SWEET LOCUST. 
States, this species is called indifferently Sweet Locust and Honey Locust; 
the French of Illinois call it Févier. 
In situations most favorable to its growth, such as I have observed on 
the banks of the Ohio, between Gallipolis and Limestone, the Sweet Locust 
attains a very ample size. I have measured several stocks which were 3 
or 4 feet in diameter, and which appeared to equal in height the loftiest 
trees of these time-honored forests. Some of them had the trunk undivided 
for 40 feet. 
The Sweet Locust is easily known by its bark, which, at intervals of a 
few inches, detaches itself laterally in plates 3 or 4 inches wide and 2 or 3 
lines thick, and by the form of its trunk, which appears to be twisted, and 
presents three or four crevices of inconsiderable depth, opening irregularly 
from the bottom toward the top. The large thorns which cover the branches, 
and frequently the trunk of young trees, afford another very distinct cha- 
racter. These thorns are sometimes several inches long, ligneous, of a 
reddish color, and armed, at some distance from the base, with two secon- 
dary thorns about half the size of the first. 
The leaves of the Sweet Locust are pinnated and composed of small, 
oval, serrate, sessile leaflets. This foliage is elegant and of an agreeable 
tint ; but it is thin, and scarcely obstructs the passage of the sun-beams. 
It is shed annually at the approach of winter. 
The flowers are small, not very conspicuous, and disposed in bunches. 
The fruit is in the form of flat, crooked, pendulous pods, from 12 to 18 
inches long, and of a reddish brown color. The pod§ contain brown, 
smooth, hard seeds, enveloped in a pulpy substance, which, for a month 
after their maturity, is very sweet, and which then becomes extremely sour. 
Beer is sometimes made by fermenting this pulp while fresh ; but the prac- 
tice is not general, as the Apple and Peach Tree, particularly the last, have 
become common in the Western Country, and afford a much superior bev- 
erage. 
The perfect wood or heart of the Sweet Locust nearly resembles that of 
the Locust, but its grain is coarser, and its pores more open : in these 
respects it is more strikingly characterized even than the wood of the Red 
Oak. When perfectly seasoned it is extremely hard. It is little esteemed 
in Kentucky, where it is more employed, and consequently can be better 
appreciated than elsewhere. It is used neither by the carpenter nor the 
wheel-wright : it is sometimes taken by the farmers for rails to fence their 
fields, but only when they are unable to procure better wood. It is found 
by experience to be far inferior to the Wild Cherry and Black Walnut for 
cabinet-making. The only destination for which it appears to be peculiarly 
adapted is the forming of hedges, which its long thorns would render im- 
penetrable. 
The Sweet Locust has been cultivated for many years in Europe. It 
